Not Enough
by MissK33hl
Summary: Being Number One is always Difficult; Being Number Two is never satisfying, especially in a place where you devote your life to being first. MelloXOC, LXOC
1. to be hated

_**N**__ever reaching what I want to reach_

**N**ever being who I want to be

_**B**__laming me when I fall and fail_

**A**ll my dreams splintering

**-**

u n d e r m y f i n g e r n a i l s

**-**

The sky, foggy and orange, the earth, cold and sparkling with frost, the overall atmosphere; cold, but damp and clear. The dreaded winter had finally passed, and spring had finally arrived. Every last mound of snow had melted away into nothing but small puddles that the ground would soon soak up, reviving every last dry blade of grass. The inside of a large, spacious building in Winchester was quite different than the outdoors, however.

Matt is the first one awake out of the entire building, not including the managers and workers, although he isn't aware of it. The first thing he does is slip out of his bed, and walk over to the window. The window, fogged up and making the image outside completely distorted, he eventually opens and peers out. The air is deathly cold first thing in the morning, sending a sudden jolt of ice up his spine.

Frost swirls from his mouth as he breathes, gazing at the property between locks of copper-colored hair. It had been an exact week that Matt had first arrived at his orphanage, sent here by social workers after both his parents had died. He had supposed to be in the hands of his aunt and uncle, but they didn't want him. They refused to take him in. So he ended up here.

_"You don't belong here," the blond snarls, his eyes nothing but chips of ice, "What? Did you miss a few meals here and there? Get hit upside the head for your utter stupidity once in a while?" he scoffs scornfully, jabbing Matt harshly in the ribs, "If you can't take that, man, you're going no where in life. Why are you _here_, anyways? I thought this orphanage was for gifted children."_

_Mello, Matt remembers being his name, has been harassing and never leaving him alone once since he came here. Mello knows nothing of his past, however, not a thing. And for now, it'll stay that way, and Matt will reveal nothing._

_"It is," the redhead retorts, "and you don't know a thing about me, like anything that went on before I came here. So back off."_

_Matt watches as Mello slowly arches an eyebrow, an eye narrowing dangerously. He isn't sure whether the bad-tempered blond is about to mock him, or throw him into a wall. Mello does neither, but something that would be considered the middle option of the two._

_"Maybe not," Mello agrees darkly, his face thrust threateningly into Matt's. His eyes, cold, blue, and full of depth, burn into Matt's gaze of emerald, though he doesn't move. He doesn't show how much he intimidates him, "But I do know you enough to know that what you've faced compared to many of us is absolutely pathetic. So don't even try to somehow make anyone sorry for you- we've suffered far worse than you've ever dreamed of, ginger."_

_Mello falls silent, and Matt can do nothing but stare right back at him. Suddenly Matt feels an impulse of anger, feels way too pushed, way too threatened. Mello's aggressive gaze is locked on him, scorching his skin.._

_So Matt lunges forward and shoves him. Hard._

_The sudden impact sends Mello into the wall behind him, so harshly that his head slams back against the stone wall. There's a sting, and he knows for sure it'll bruise up. More than anything, though, he's suprised. It doesn't last long, though, for when his slight daze is over, the pure anger returns to his features, lighting up his brilliant gaze._

_"So you want to hit me, huh?" he murmurs, a growl clear in his tone, and he walks slowly back over to Matt, standing directly in front of him, "Well? Do it! Do it again! You'll never be able to do half of the things _they_ did to me, you pathetic moron! You won't even leave a damn scratch!"_

_Matt watches as the older boy lifts up his shirt daintily, revealing his stomache and chest. Scars, some worse than others, are marked into his body, constant reminders of what he faced before. He drops his shirt, and the redhead glances up at Mello's face, which is dark with annoyance, anger, and maybe hurt. Though he's obviously not trying to show it._

_Matt has nothing to say, for there's nothing _to _say anymore, so he just leaves. Just like that._

Matt didn't mind the Orphanage too much, except for the irritable people in it. Most of them were awfully aggressive, rude, and would practically slit your throat if you did so much as look at them. Others were timid, secretive, and prefered to be left alone. Then there were those who didn't really give a shit and went on with life. Matt wasn't exactly sure where he fit in those categories, and truthfully, he could care less.

Other than Mello and his intresting way of welcoming newcomers, Matt had only met a few other unfortunate souls who now called the orphanage their current home. There's Anna, a girl who tends to be very bold and slightly sarcastic, but is pretty friendly and most of the time keeps to herself. He isn't sure whether Anna is her real name or just an alias, but he won't find out her real name ever, so it doesn't matter. Anna hangs out with Mello alot of the time, and with another girl too.

Her name is Parker, and she's just as annoying as she sounds. Or atleast, the name Parker sounds annoying to his ears. Either way, she's obnoxious, and was clearly spoiled in her previous life. How she ended up here, only god knows, but she's here, and unfortunetely she isn't going anywhere.

Matt finally turns and backs away from the window, hitting the latch and letting the window fall shut on it's own. The rush of cold air is replaced with warm, making him shiver slightly.

**_________________________________________________________________________**

"DON'TTOUCHAWAYFROMITNOWRIGHTNOWGETAWAAAAAAAAY!"

Mello's looming over his science project fingers curled and teeth grit as Anna pokes in a finger to rearrange part of his diorama. Quick as lightning, her hand shoots back and away from the project, and she puts up her hands innocently. The blond huffs irritably.

"Quit touching my shit. That took me a full two days to do, and I didn't get any sleep last night whatsoever. If you screw it up, I'll kill you," Mello then smiles at her, something threatening yet fakely innocent. Anna frowns.

"You had an entire week to complete the assignment, yet you chose the last two days to actually do it. Usually you aren't so off-tasked," she says, raising an eyebrow mockingly. Mello sighs as locks of blond hair fall into his gaze.

"I was busy," he replies.

"How so?" she asks.

"Oh, the usual. Girls," Mello grins, crossing his legs and setting one of his hands on his knee, "They're all over me, you know."

"I'm sure they are, Mels, I'm sure they are."

Mello rolls his eyes and turns away, "Pfft. You're just jealous because you didn't get the chance to have some time with me."

Anna smirks and raises an eyebrow at her companion. Yesterday he was verbally torturing some new kid about his past, the next day he's attempting to flirt. Usually one day he's bad-tempered, and he's still bad-tempered for the rest of the remaining week.

"So where's L?" she asks finally, ignoring Mello and his sarcastic remarks. His face hardens, and his gaze averts.

"I could care less of where he is," the blond growls, crossing his arms across his chest, "He's been such a nuissance since he got here. He's...so fucking _smart_!"

"And your so jealous," the light blonde-haired girl grins. Mello turns her fierce gaze on her, but instead of cowering, her grin only widens. He mutters something she didn't catch and looks away, "I'm not jealous, just annoyed. He's always getting the highest grades, he's always being such a damn suck-up. He's a teacher's pet."

"Excuses," Anna says, "I don't think he's like that at all. As a matter of fact, that guy is so quiet most of the time I'm not even aware he's in our class. Relax, Mello, and get over it. You're still set-up for being the head of that organization Whammy started. No one can take that away from you, Roger even promised."

"...Yeah," the british-accented blond responds finally, "I suppose your right."

"I _am_ right," she snaps, though in a good-natured way, "Now shut up and face the front before we get in crap for not paying attention."

**__________________________________________________________________________**

"L? L is your real name?"

"It's what I'm known and adressed by."

"But you have no idea what your real name is?"

"Technically I've never had a real name," L replies, fixing the man with his narrowed black gaze, "The only thing on my Birth Certificate labelled under my name is the mere letter 'L' which suggests my parents planned on naming me with a name that began with that letter, but apearantly never had the chance to get down the full name before they died."

"I see," Rodger, the manager of the orphanage, says slowly. L has been at the orphanage for about a month now, but he hasn't been very talkative. There's still quite a bit to be known about him.

"It was only my mother who died," he finally admits, shifting in his seat slightly, "I lived with my father for a small amount of time, before I was finally taken to a different orphanage at a young age. Now I've ended up here, in a different place only across England."

"Anything else you'd like to share?"

"Anything that might be of any value to you, no."

Holding back a sigh, the older man gives a curt nod, standing up and motioning towards the door to dismiss him, "Thank you, L, you're free to leave now."

The boy does and says nothing, but gets up from his chair and out the door, closing the door behind him. Once out in the hallway, he realizes he can do one of two things; go into his room and study, or try to socialize. He realizes he doesn't want to do either at the moment. Then he realizes another more than obvious thing;

There's practically nothing to do here.

It's not like he's complaining. He's got a better chance at life here than he did before anywhere else, and this Orphanage and it's standards were alot higher than the previous ones he had been at, but when boredom gets to you, you can't help but complain. A bit.

**__________________________________________________________________________**

Song Lyrics: Fingernails  
Song Artist: Skillet  
Fic Based Off: Roleplay  
Suggested to Read: Shattered Justice by me, Hidden Identity by JadeWolfe

**(A/N: Based slightly off of Roleplay, slightly off of Death Note. The only thing that makes it different is the fact that Mello and L are the same age. As a matter of fact, Mello's actually older than L. Anna is my own character that I made up, along with Parker, who'll eventually be called Danielle. This chapter...this chapter...-sigh- was hell. Don't ask why, it just was, xD. It had been deleted and re-written several times before finally I was able to successfully add the damn thing.  
I'll accept flames, but c'mon, if you've got a problem with my writing, try to keep your criticism/insults mild, would you?)**

**- b l u e y ***


	2. And you'd be the rapist?

**I don't even know how old they are at this point, and to be honest, I don't care too much. Just read. I'm aware of some making-sense issues, but hey, it's 12:36 exactly and I'm fucking exhausted.**

**Gud Nite**

**_______________________________________**

**---**

Mello had never particularily liked anyone who stepped through the threshold of the worn orphanage; some of them were either too mentally wounded from their previous lives to even understand. Most of them moaned and groaned, cried and wailed for something they could never have.

Then, there were the few of them who had gained Mello's respect, you could say. It didn't matter whether or not Matt was one of the kids who were pathetic, weak, and whiny, the blond didn't like him. At all.

So when Roger assigned Matt a room, a room which just so happened to at the time be occupied by Mello, he obviously wasn't pleased, hence the reason why he stalked down the hallways of the building, heading directly towards Roger's office, and entering without knocking or showing his presence.

The old man looked up so quickly his pen fumbled out of his hand and hit the floor noisily, though Mello's polite nature was even more absent than usual as he stepped forward ignorantly, narrowly avoiding stepping on the ink pen, and leaned over towards him.

Mello was pretty sure Roger already knew why he was here, but there was no harm in proving a point, "No," he growled simply, saying it slowly as it he were teaching the word to Roger, "No, you'll take that brat out of my room immediantly. You already are aware-"

"Please, Mello, enough," he spoke firmly, though it was slightly hoarse, "You aren't anymore superior than any other other children are. You don't get to make the final descisions around here, and you don't get everything you want, when you want. Matt is your dorm partner, and that's that."

He briefly considered going a route he rarely did; pout or whine. Or the more common one; cause havoc until Roger finally gave in so the orphanage didn't go up in flames, but this time, he decided that maybe, just maybe, he'd see who this guy really was.

So he turned around and left wordlessly, leaving Roger to once again wonder about the young teenager's strange behaviour.

_________________________________________________________________________________

There were two sides of the orphanage; upstairs and on the west wing were the dorm rooms where every child stayed. The rest of the orphanage consisted of dozens of classrooms, yet only from grades kindergarten to grade six. Across the yard was a building, three stories high, where the older children went for school.

Anna was waiting, along with another boy, at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the plain brick building. He recognized the copper hair of Matt, but he stayed silent. He didn't even say anything in his head, and merely walked over.

"Hi," he greeted bluntly, nodding first to Anna, and slowly to Matt. He flashed a sarcastic smile at the blond, before turning his jade gaze away. Anna sighed.

_Idiots_, "Can we go to class? I'm going to be late for Math," she explained quickly. Mello passed them wordlessly and into the large building, Matt doing the same. Trying to hide her annoyance, she narrowed her blue eyes and followed calmly into the school.

As Anna went to math class, both Matt and Mello had to go to History in the same class. Perhaps the fact that the redhead wasn't talking made the situation a bit better, or maybe just a bit awkward, but at least, so far, they weren't arguing.

Matt rarely paid attention, looking up only when he was adressed, though he still seemed to know this stuff pretty well. Mello openly slept through class, ignoring the teachers calls and threats to send him to the office, or even Roger. Finally coming to the realization that the blond could care less, she shook her head and turned back to the chalkboard. Matt smirked.

Mello wasn't one to skip class; he kept up with homework, completed all his work in class, and paid attention most of the time. But nearly every class, except for Art, he either did something he wasn't supposed to, or just acted ignorant and bored. Like he didn't care. Which at the moment he didn't.

In the early afternoon, when he had Art luckily with both Matt and Anna, Mello once again felt restless and just _bored_. The entire class was silent, except for the occasional whisper to one another to 'pass the eraser' or 'i need the blue paint' or whatever else. The blond watched Anna sketch a landscape on a piece of paper, while Matt attempted to draw _something_ similliar to Anna's, before averting his gaze out the window.

"I'm sneaking out."

Anna rolled her eyes, continuing to draw the lead of the pencil smoothly along the paper, while Matt looked up from his demented-looking sketch. "Why?"

"Well, why not?"

"Why now?"

"Why are you speaking?"

"Why are you checking me out?"

"Dude, what the fuck!"

The teacher's head immediantly shot up at Mello's loud, abrubt outburst. Anna was slowly turning away, her eyebrows raised, while the Art teacher pointed to Mello, then pointed to the door wordlessly. The blond smiled cheerfully and stood up.

"Washroom!" Matt's hand shot up the second Mello left the room. The teacher narrowed an eye at him suspiciously, but flicked her wrist towards the door to briefly dismiss him from the room. The redhead shot out the door.

"Yo, wait up!" The redhead skid to a halt beside Mello, who was at his locker, swinging his black back pack over one shoulder. He blinked his saphire eyes once at him. "Yes?"

"Are you leaving school for the rest of the day?"

The blond pretended to look thoughtful, stretching once before turning down the hallway, "Maybe. Maybe not. Actually, yeah I am. So what. You going to stand there like a dumbass or are you coming?"

"Me?"

"Uh, yeah you. I don't fucking talk to myself."

Matt merely grinned and turned down the hallway, "Yeah, whatever. I'll meet you outside."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Have you seen Mello? Oh, Matt as well? They disapeared at fifth period."

"No," L replied, continuing down the hallway and passing Roger's office without stopping, "I rarely speak to them, anyways," he called over his shoulder. The old man frowned, before continuing on with his work.

As he turned the corner, and down the next hallway, a girl with blonde hair bowled into him, nearly knocking him over. He recognized Anna, a girl his age who was friends with Mello, and beside her, a slim dark-haired brunette with hazel-green eyes. Parker.

"Hi!" she quickly backed away, "Um, sorry 'bout that, but have you seen Mello? I'm trying to cover for him and Matt, but they'll be getting into-"

He cut in sharply, "No. I haven't..." he trailed off yet again, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the window. Parker watched him carefully, glancing at where he was now looking. Her eyes widened.

"Um. Anna?"

"Not now, Parker, we have to go-"

"LOOK!"

After catching a glimpse of some fists, some blond and red hair, and hearing a whole lot of muffled commotion, all three of them filed outside and into the evening sun, which was already beginning to set. A musculer teenager who apeared to be alot older than Mello himself towered over the blond, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Behind him, Matt struggled with another teenager.

"You aren't going anywhere, asshole," the older boy growled. Mello merely smiled, flashing pearly white teeth, and narrowed his eyes mockingly.

"Oh, and you'd be the rapist?" Mello purred. A brief flash was all he glimpsed before a fist slammed into his face, and a small gang of witnesses stepped neatly to the side as he toppled over and onto the ground.

"He just hit _Mello_!!" a few kids whispered, their eyes wide. Matt quickly jerked away from the other boy, ducking behind a tree, just as Mello stood up, a trail of blood swirling down his flawless skin, which would soon contain a small gash. He shook his head, causing it to splatter onto the gravel and cement and down into his eyes.

"Oh _shit_," Anna breathed, while L watched with narrowed eyes. Parker stood by the doors at the back of the school yard, watching from a small distance.

"...We need to stop it," the dark-haired boy suddenly growled, his quiet, accented voice unusually rough. Anna looked at L in suprise as he stepped forward.

She stepped after him, "Are you stupid? What the hell-"

Yet she had nothing to say when the fight continued, and L actually fought as if he were some sort of expertise at fighting. He lightly used something that was similliar to some sort of martial arts, but either way, even the two teens who opposed Mello and Matt seemed a bit confused.

Two other children in the crowd helped Mello to his feet, though he shoved them away immediantly, wiping blood off of his face as best as he could. Matt watched the two teens back off, laughing as if they were bored, or just mockful of their attempts to get them to leave, and left slowly. Parker finally came forward with the rest of them.

"What the hell was that about?" Anna snapped, coming up to Mello and raising a hand as if she were about to slap him. The blond winced, raising a hand.

"Don't you dare," the british boy shut one of his eyes painfully, "I just got ploughed in the face, I don't need an unneccasary sting from you too."

"I wasn't going to!" she snapped once more, "Just tell me why the hell you had two seniors ready to tear your eyes out!"

Behind him, Matt flipped his hair out of his eyes and began to walk over to them, "_Matt_," Mello began, glancing at the redhead briefly, "Found it neccasary to provoke a fight out of them. This time, I swear, I had nothing to do with starting it." He put his hands up innocently. Anna rolled her eyes and smacked them back down to his sides.

Matt stood beside them, one of the lenses to his goggles cracked directly down the middle. Frowning, he slipped them off and shoved them in his pocket with a sigh, "My bad.." He muttered. Behind him, Parker hit him upside the head.

"Yeah, you ARE bad!" her hazel-green eyes glinted, "You're glad L came along...where the hell did he go, anyways? And how'd he know to do that...um...those things he did?"

"Don't know," Mello yawned, "Don't care. Good night," he turned and began to walk towards the dorm-room building, "If Roger asks what happened to my face, tell him I dumped the hottest girl in school because of some cool reason and she and her friends ganged up on me. Mkay?"

"..Sure, Mels."

___________________________________________________________________________

**- - -  
Suckiest Way to end it, I know.**

**R  
e  
V  
i  
E  
w  
****- - -**

_**- b l u e y w o l f **_

_______________________________________________________________________________


	3. a promising rival

___________________________________________________________________________________  
Put it together himself, now the picture connects  
Never askin for someone's help, to get some respect_

__________________________________________________________________________________

"How the hell will I manage to hide this..." he mumbled to himself, pulling locks of blond hair down into the side of his face. His layered hair, even if it was ever so slightly longer in comparison to Matt or even L's, still didn't hide the long laseration that sliced down the bridge of his nose and to the edge of his lips. The wound was clearly insignifigant and completely painless, but even the smallest scratch on his body left Roger with a million questions he would eventually force down the young boy's throat.

A girl apeared in the doorway behind Mello, her smoky blue eyes dancing with amusement, "Need some cover-up, Mello? I bet Parker has some," He scowled as he heard Matt snicker back in the bedroom, though it was cut off abrubtly with a loud crash. Who shoved him this time, Mello didn't know. Honestly, he didn't care.

"_No_," he growled, brushing past Anna and heading back into the bedroom, the room he now shared with Matt, who was splayed out on the floor on his back, his fingers nimbly crossing across his hand-held videogame. Mello felt a bit annoyed at Matt's condition. He'd wake up in the morning with a few bruises here and there, while Mello would be stuck with a cut across his face for about a week, and then he'd have to explain his little fight to Roger. Parker, clearly annoyed, leaned casually against the doorframe, her hazel gaze narrowed.

"You're worse than a chick," she greeted him irritably when he stepped out of the bathroom, "Even I don't spend that much time in the bathroom. Fixing your make-up? Oh my! Do you wear eyeliner?!" She leaned in suddenly, peering intently at his eyes.

He quickly shied away, "No. I'm not a queer, you know," Walking over to Matt, he threw an arm around his shoulders casually, "But we all know who really _is _one here," he said gently, patting the redhead on the shoulder.

Matt tried to pull away from the other teen's slender but suprisingly strong arm, before finally just ducking under it and standing up, letting his videogame system slide off his lap and to the floor, "I'm _straight_," he snapped shortly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know relax." Mello sighed, before turning to Anna and Parker. Anna had gone over to Parker now, looking as if she was ready to leave the room anytime now. So Mello 'dismissed' her.

"You can go if you want," he muttered, turning back towards the bathroom where the mirror was, his blue eyes slowly leaking annoyance at the cut on his face.

______________________________________________________________________________

Grimy writing was everywhere around the park area, ink from sad love notes and random scribbles bleeding down the slides and the bars. Teenage girls all tangled up in their hopeless heartache; wimpy, cowardly teenage boys who spend most of their time skipping class because they think their life is too much to handle and they think they might as well go ahead and kill themselves, and they write out everything they feel to the public without anyone realizing it was them, only for it to get washed away the next time the rain pours down from the sky.

Pathetic, was what most would say, while others were so used to it they didn't even acknowledge it anymore. Splayed out on the bars of the worn down jungle gym, which was technically only for the smaller children, but was used by the teens when school wasn't in session or they had breaks, was Mello, chocolate bar in hand and all, his eyes narrowed as he peered through several blossomed trees and at the school building. He and Matt only had about 5 minutes until is was 5th period, which was when Gym was.

The flame-haired boy was leaning against a pole used to support the equipment, locks of hair hiding his gaze, which was now partially visible. He had finally taken off his goggles, which now hung casually around his neck. His pale emerald gaze was now exposed, flickering towards the yellow spark of the lit cigarette he held between his lips. It wasn't that Mello had never met a person his age who smoked, or anything, but not only considering the fact that Matt was almost two years younger than him, he didn't seem like the type to whip out a pack of cancer-sticks.

The silent tension that passed between them was nearly unbearable, and finally Mello just turned away and looked in the other direction, away from the building and the property, and out towards the main town area of Winchester.

It had been awhile since he had left Whammys; the last time it was because he had gone to the investigation unit on the other side of town. This building was a massive, incredibly high skyscraper that had so many stories it was nearly impossible to count. Many were offices, spare bedrooms, and even indoor training facilities. It was all run by a world famous detective known simply as Spade Razuri, along with his more elusive assistant Clayton Thomas.

Spade Razuri, whose real name is unknown, also came from Whammy's house and had been raised there ever since he was very young. His parents were abusive, and he had been taken away and put into the gifted orpahange before anyone was even aware of his gift of intelligence. When they did, however, realize how keen and clever he was, they began to test his skills. He soon became intrested in law and crime, and when he was old enough to leave the orphanage, he started his own career, partnering up with the police and FBI to crack some of the worlds most difficult cases. He's been partnered with Whammy's recently of course as well, and is looking for around two or three gifted children to not only help him at the institution, but to eventually succeed him.

Clayton Thomas attended the orphanage for only a year when he was an older teenager, but was quite similliar to his new friend Spade and agreed to help him with his work. However, he also does espionage work, and works with the FBI regularily.

Mello had been chosen to become one of the children to become trained for this specific type of job and to eventually be able to work with Spade and the others at the taskforce, and perhaps even succeed Spade himself.

He was satisfied at the thought of being the successor of Razuri, eventually gaining the spot as number one and being able to hold his title as the greatest detective of the world. Matt had heard of the detective also, but he didn't apear to be all too intrested in the opportunity. He had admitted he was a bit more intrigued by Clayton's work, but still didn't feel like he wanted to work with them.

His thoughts were interrupted as a young, thin girl skipped out from behind the side of the building, trotting towards them with bright eyes and a massive grin. Her brown hair was tied up in a girly, high ponytail, and her pale skin was now flushed at the cheeks. Mello recognized Linda, the shy, bubbly girl who was extremely artistic and loved to draw. Not to mention, one of the people who was most likely to annoy the hell out of Mello.

She slowed down as she came closer to them, Matt quickly leaning down and pushing his cigarette into the damp sand, sending a brief cloud of smoke swirling into the air. Linda was in front of him by the time he stood back up, and he backed up in suprise.

"Hi Matt," she greeted him shyly, her hands behind her back. The redhead blinked slightly, casting a glance at Mello before looking back at the brunette girl, "Hey Linda," he muttered, sounding as if he wasn't even intrested. She flashed him a quick smile, before turning to Mello.

Fixing her with narrowed cold blue eyes, he crossed his arms at her, though his hostile apearance didn't seem to phase her at all, for her cheeky grin merely widened at him, "Roger sent me out to find you. He wants to speak with you in his office."

_For god sakes_, Mello sighed and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the jungle gym stairs and jumping onto the ground. Wordlessly, he passed Matt and Linda, the bell ringing for classes to begin by the time he was halfway to the door. Matt quickly slipped past Linda and jogged towards the front doors of the school, catching up to his blond-haired companion.

_______________________________________________________________________________

They said from the moment Mello began his classes and they saw his extraordinary talents, he was a prodigy.

They said from the moment L even stepped foot into the private orphanage from where he came from, he was a prodigy.

How offending.

So it was no suprise that he was called into Roger's office, which now had L standing patiently at the right hand side of his desk, and he recieved a rather casual announcement that L could potentially succeed Spade, therefore causing Mello more competition.

The annoyance Mello felt was instant. That spot was reserved for him and him alone, to be specially mentored and given guidance by the mysterious, yet world-known detective. He had been at this orphanage for exactly four years of his life, two of them he had devoted to showing everyone he deserved to be number one. L had been at this place for what, two months? And had already recieved recognition for his skills.

That was enough to piss him off, and to say in a way most would say was rather childish, to him it was unfair.

"I've been devoting myself to this for forever, and you know it," he tried to argue, his narrowed eyes meeting the pale ashy color of Roger's irises angrily, "Why should-"

The older man interrupted him sharply, raising a hand to silence him, "L has demonstrated various traits that shows he's able to handle the responsiblities of succeeding someone with a job so important. It doesn't matter how long he's been here, Mello."

Roger glanced over at L a few brief times encouragingly, his dull eyes lit up with forced enthusiasm. The dark-haired boy wouldn't meet his gaze, however, staring down at the carpet intently by his feet as if it were speaking to him.

"And I haven't?" he turned his gaze away from L and back to Roger furiously, "I am responsible, and I'm extremely dedicated to my schoolwork and what I've been asked to prepare for, which is _meeting with Spade_!"

L's black eyes finally glanced up, just as Roger spoke, "Don't get me wrong, Mello, I'm not choosing out of you two. You'll both recieve guidance and potential to join their taskforce. It's just-"

It was Mello's turn to interrupt him, "This is just like a game, isn't it?" he asked dryly, referring to the time Matt had explained to him what he thought of how this place worked, "The more points you get, the higher level you get- translation, the more intelligent you are, the higher the chance of getting the head-spot of the taskforce training."

L gave the slightest, smallest smirk, turning and glancing curiously at Roger, who had suddenly become at a lost for words. Finally, the old man shook his head, adjusting his glasses and waving his hand at the two young teens.

"We'll get into details about this later, I'm not in the mood for a thorough discussion. You two may leave."

L turned towards the door, slipping past Mello and narrowly avoiding getting hit in the shoulder from the annoyed blond. Just as Mello was about to follow after him, Roger stopped him.

"Mello, please hold on."

Once more stifling a growl of annoyance, he whipped around to face him, folding his arms across his chest. Roger didn't seem to be looking him directly in the eye, more or less at the side of his face. It was only then he remembered.

"Whats that cut on your face from, Mello?" He asked in a displeased tone, his eyebrows raised knowingly. Immediately, his hand went up to his face, hiding the mark.

He cleared his throat, slowly backing up towards the door, "What cut, Roger? I don't even know what you're- oh wait look at the time, If I don't hurry I'll be late for my next class."

And he quickly slipped out of the office, slamming the door behind him, leaving Roger to shake his head and sigh after him.

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Lyrics above from Fort Minor's 'Remember the Name'.

**(A/N: Yay, another chapter. Review please XD)**

**- b l u e y **


	4. new friends

Mello and Matt were out running in the field after abandoning their basketball game on the pavement, managing to already get into some sort of playful arguement. The redhead was running for dear life as Mello streaked after him, brandishing his chocolate bar like a weapon. Anna sat beneath an orchid tree at the side of the yard, listening to music through the headphones she had dangled around her neck.

L was also sitting beneath one of the vibrant-leafed trees of the property, his hand making smooth strokes across his notepad as he wrote quietly into it. Parker's hazel gaze travelled over to the genius boy, feeling that usual sense of curiousity sink into her once more. The dark-haired prodigy was always silent, and so very mysterious.

After a brief hesitation, and thinking whether or not to even approach him, she pushed herself off the wall of the side of the orphanage building and walked over to him, halting when she stood in front of him. She knew L noticed her prescence, but he clearly chose to ignore her.

"Hi, L," Parker leaned over slightly, glancing over L's pen and at his sheet of paper curiously, "What're you doing?" With a pause, he glanced up at her, arching a thin black eyebrow at her.

He finally just shrugged, averting his gaze, "You know," he began, his voice calm and completely indifferent, "I thought this was a place for children with talents, or geniuses, as they say." He glanced at her pointedly, and she crossed her arms. L smiled as he watched the annoyance rise in her immediately.

"Are you calling me dumb? You are, aren't you! Why would I be here if I was some sort of stupid, demented freak?! You just think-"

L put down his notepad into the grass next to him, barely refraining from smirking, but managing to remain emotionless as always, "Relax, would you? I'm just teasing." He leaned back against the trunk of the tree, the sunlight hitting the dark irises of his eyes and turning them into an icy, clear ebony, "I'm just working on homework for class. I-"

"Homework? Since when do you have homework?" She bent over and sat down in front of him, running her fingers restlessly through the uneven green stalks of grass, "I thought you always finished your work in class."

He shrugged again, "I'm not perfect. I try and get it done as much as I possibly can, but sometimes taking a break isn't so bad, as long as I get it finished on time." Parker nodded slightly, her chocolate brown hair falling into her gaze slightly.

Silence passed between the two for a moment, L's gaze fixed on the world outside of the fence that kept them inside of this place, while Parker watched Mello and Matt roughly tackle eachother, Anna, who had gotten up, was trying her best to free Matt of Mello's tight headlock.

"So what do you think of Mello?" Parker finally asked, glancing over at L, whose spiked and messy hair had now fallen over his eyes, hiding most of his expression. He frowned, shifting so he sat up slightly.

He looked at her through locks of black hair, "What do you mean?"

Parker scoffed, "What do I mean? _I mean_, what do you think of him? Technically, he's your rival, since he is competing with you to become number one not only in this instituition, but number one in our own group of potential successors for Spade."

L hesitated, "He's rebellious and no doubt ambitious, but he's clever. He seems to notice things others do not, although, I do think his amount of ambition in the end might not be a good thing," he shrugged, "But he's been here longer and he knows what he's doing. He's more likely to directly succeed someone rather than I."

Parker nodded slightly, letting out a sigh and stretching out. L picked up his pen and notepad once more and continued writing for a few more minutes, before carelessly throwing back on the ground next to him.

"I guess if the opportunity arrises, however, there's no doubt I'll try to somehow overpower Mello in intelligence- and stradegy."

Parker closed her eyes and smirked at L's sudden statement, "Just be careful." She said, subtle. L's eyes narrowed questioningly.

"Mello enjoys a challenge," she said in reply, "But he doesn't play fair when it comes to anything."

L shrugged.

"I'm sure I can handle him."

Parker smirked.

"Sure."

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Matt had finally collapsed onto his side in the grass, breathing heavily. It wasn't a suprise at the redhead's sudden lack of stamina, however, considering how many cigarettes the young boy smoked each day. Mello stepped back, smirking, as Anna shook her head at them behind him.

"Are you considering quitting the cigarettes anytime soon?" Anna came alongside Mello, who still had a smirk stuck onto his face, "They aren't good for you, ya know, especially at your age." The redhead glanced up at Anna just as Mello turned and grabbed him by the back of his striped shirt, pulling him back to his feet roughly. Bits of dry grass stuck to his clothing, and he quickly brushed them off.

He put his hand tentatively on his own shoulder, "I'm not stupid. I know what they can do to me," he shot back, running a hand through his copper hair before he lets it drop down limply to his sides. His say in this conversation has apearantly abrubtly ended.

Mello grunts irritably and turns away, losing the smirk as boredom becomes more obvious on his features. His icy gaze averts briefly up to the sky, which is slowly beginning to darken as storm clouds form.

"It's going to rain," Mello announces, brushing past his companions and heading through the grass of the field at the side of the yard and back towards the main building to get back to his room. Matt and Anna exchange a brief glance, before following behind rather slowly.

_Whatever. Let the idiots get rained on_, he growls to himself, preparing to open the door to enter the building when he stops, hearing something.

_Mew!_

"Matt, stop that, you moron."

"Huh? Stop _what_?"

Mello stops again, Anna and Matt halting behind him as he halts, turning on his heel and looking around the yard with a raised eyebrow. Then he spots it.

Behind Matt's leg.

A tiny, completely and utterly pathetic, as Mello defines it, tabby-striped kitten waddles behind part of the wall where Matt stands, letting out its pitiful cries as it backs away, completely uncoordinated and unbalanced, and ends up falling over onto it's sides a few times. It's scrawny and emaciated, with dull, big blue eyes.

"Aw shit," Mello sighs and slides his hand to his forehead miserably as Matt suddenly brightens and turns, Anna joining him and trying to urge the tiny cat towards them, using encouraging(and rather scary, as Mello thinks once more) tones of voices.

Finally, it just plops down and lets out a big wail, its eyes half closed as rain begins to pour down from the sky. Anna quickly shoots forward, scooping the creature into her arms and putting it in the side of her sweater to hide it from the downpour.

Matt and Anna, who are now soaked from the rain, slip past Mello and into the building, who had stayed dry by taking shelter in the overhang by the front door.

"Are you two fucking crazy?" he snarls after them, coming up beside Anna and peering down at the little animal. It's stopped crying, but it's trembling so much you'd think it had some sort of disorder. "Where the hell are you planning on keeping that thing?! And what about Roger? If he-"

"Calm down!" Anna snaps, and its only then Mello realizes they are heading down the hallway towards the boys side of the orphanage and to Mello and Matt's room. Immediately the blond forces them to halt, jumping in front of them.

His eyes narrow angrily, "I don't want the fucking cat in our room! It'll piss everywhere and start its wailing in the middle of the night!"

"Too bad!" Anna hisses back, and suddenly the ball of fluff is shoved into Mello's arms forcefully, "Look, it's 10:00, and no girls are supposed to be around here after 8:30. We need to take care of it! It's all alone, and..."

"Why can't YOU take it?"

"Because Danielle is allergic to cats!"

"Like hell she is!"

"Stop!" Matt reaches over, grabbing the bundle by the scruff quickly and setting it in his own arms, "Just go Anna, I'll shut him up somehow." Matt grins teasingly at his friend. Mello lifts up his fist.

The two boys quickly hurry into their room, closing and locking the door silently behind them. Mello immediately goes over and sits on the side of his bed, his narrowed gaze never leaving the tiny feline as it pads around the room on clumsy paws, trotting over to Mello to sniff him. The blond growls and shoves the kitten away, sommersaulting back towards Matt.

"Hey!" the redhead picks up the striped kitten once more, stroking it's tiny head, "Don't treat Pikachu like that!"

Mello's jaw drops.

"Are you _serious_? Nuh-uh, hell no. We aren't naming the little bastard fucking Pikachu, you queer."

"But look!" Matt insists, bringing the little cat closer and showing Mello each side of it's cheeks. Two black stripes streak down the sides of it's face, the markings similliar to lightning bolts. Mello arches an eyebrow at him.

"So?"

"He's kinda like Pikachu with the lightning bolts and stuff."

Mello sighs, "Well, he isn't yellow, and we don't even know if it's a male or a female. Maybe its both, I don't know." He suddenly grins, "Go ahead, Matt. Check."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Boys?"

"GAH!"

As soon as they hear Roger's voice, Mello dives underneath the covers, pretending to be asleep, leaving Matt to hide the kitten on his own. Cursing under his breath, he streaks across the room, looking around. Then he sees a cabinet, and of course, locks the cat up inside of it.

"Yeah?" Matt calls from inside the room as he quickly dives into his own bed. There's a hesitation, before the door opens a crack.

"Are you two alright? I thought I heard you yelling.." the old man trails off, waiting for him to answer. Mello snores in response.

"Nope," Matt yawns, stretching and turning his back to the door, "We're going to sleep. G'night, Roger."

"..." The door closes without a word, and Matt listens as his footsteps fade down the hall. When they disapear, he quickly jumps up again, letting the kitten out of the cabinet and allowing it to roam around the room once more.

"Mello? Mello, we-" He stops when he realizes the blond really is sleeping, and he sighs slightly. In the dark, the kitten's glassy gaze flashes at him expectantly. Sighing, he heads over to the side of the room by the counter and the sink, getting out a small dish and filling it up with tap water and setting it on the ground. Then he trudges back over to his bed, and nearly as fast as Mello did, he falls asleep.

Mello doesn't wake once during the night, even when a tiny bundle of kitten jumps up onto the bed and nuzzles itself beneath his chin and falls asleep.

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**(A/N: Awwwwwh! Kitten fluff XD  
Anyways, I don't have much to say...besides the fact that Matt wants to name the cat freakin' Pikachu. Henh xD)**

**REVIEW!**

**- b l u e y**


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